THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT 


William  P.  IVreden 


•"V-^^z-iSC-z-'O'-z-  # 


THE 


STORY  OF  THE  FOUNTAIN. 


BY 

WILLIAM   CULLEN,  BRYAXT. 


Illustrated  with  Forty-two  Engravings  on  Wood. 


NEW     VOIIK: 
D.    A  PPL  ETON     A-     r  O  M  PA  NY 

Mix  (  (  IAXXI. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 

D.   APPLETON   &  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


1  FOUNTAIN,  that  springest  on  this  grassy  slope,"         FENN. 

"  Thou  dost  wear 
No  stain  of  thy  dark  birthplace,"  FENN. 


This  tangled  thicket  on  the  bank  above," 


In  and  out 


The  chipping  sparrow," 


" —  the  maple  bur^t  into  ;i  flush 


FENN. 


"  There  the  spice-bush  lifts 
Her  leafy  lances,"  Hows. 


Hows. 


Not  such  thou  wert  of  yore,  ere  yet  the  axe,"  FKNN. 


Of  scarlet  flower.-.'' 


Hows. 


ENGRAVER.  I'AC.F. 

Harley.  '.» 


Harley.  10 

Harley.  1 1 

//.  Linlon.  12 

Karst.  13 

llarley.  14 

15 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


ARTIST.  KNGRAVEK.  PA(iK 


"  Hamming-birds 
And  silken-winged  insects  of  the  sky,"  FENN.  Harley.  16 

Frail  wood-plants  clustered  round  thy  edge,"  Hows.  Harley.  17 


Here  the  quick-footed  wolf," 


FENN.  Harley. 


"  The  slow-paced  bear," 


"  But  thou  hast  histories," 


"  Each  makes  a  tree  his  shield," 


"  —  and  the  dead  remain 
Mangled  by  tomahawks,"  FENN. 

Figures  of  men  that  crouch  and  creep  unheard,"       FENN. 


"  —  a  hunter's  lodge  is  built, 
With  poles  and  boughs," 


FENN. 


18 


"  The  deer,  too,  left 
Her  delicate  footprint "  FENN.  Filmer.  19 


FENN.  Bobbett.  20 


FENN.  Langridge.  2 1 


"  The  Indian  warrior,  whom  a  hand  unseen,"  FREDERICKS.      //.  Union.  22 

"  —  a  throng  of  savage  men 
With  naked  arms,"  FREDERICKS.      Bobbed.  23 


FREDERICKS.      Bobbttt.  24 


Harley.  25 

Filmer.  26 

Harley.  27 


L  AS  7"    (>  F   1LLUSTRATIO  .\  > . 

BUKJECT.  ARTIST.  ENGBAVER.  PAGE 

"  —  flings  down 
The  deer  from  his  strong  shoulders,"  FENX.  Kami.  28 


Loud  the  black-eyed  Indian  maidens  laugh,"  FREDERICKS.      Bobbett. 


•  —  glistened  in  the  frozen  rains," 
All  around  was  heard  the  crash  of  trees," 

'  The  low  of  ox,  and  shouts  of  men  who  fired 
The  brushwood," 

'The  grain  sprang  thick  and  tall." 
• —  ranks  of  spiky  maize," 


FEXX. 


White  cottages  wen-  seen," 


FEXX. 


"  Barns  from  which 
Came  loud  and  shrill,"  FENX. 


"  A  rich  turf 


Of  grasses," 


Ha  r  leu. 


FENX.  Harley. 


Karst. 


FEXX.  Harley. 


29 


30 


FEXX.  Lamgridge.  31 


32 


Hows.  Harley.  33 


PERKINS.  Filmer.  34, 


"  —  the  buckwheat 
Whitened  broad  acres,"  Hows.  Bobbett.  35 


36 


36 


I'astures  where  rolled  and  neighed  the  lordly  horse,"  FEXX.  Harm/.  37 


37 


"  Blue-eyed  girls," 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

L'BJECT.  ARTIST. 

HOMER. 


:  Children,  ruddy-cheeked," 


UOMKR. 


1 —  as  they  stooped  to  taste  thy  stream,"  *  FENN. 


ENGRAVER.  PACK 

Harley.  38 

Harlcy.  39 

Harley.  40 


"  The  sportsman  .  .  .  bathed  his  heated  brow,"          FENN.  ffarlci/.  41 

"  Shouting  boys,  let  loose 
For  a  wild  holiday,"  HOMER.  Kdrst.  42 


u  The  plumed  soldier  by  thy  side 
Has  sat,"  FREDERICKS.       Bobbett. 


"  Lovers  have  gazed  upon  thee," 

"  Here  the  sage, 
Gazing  into  thy  self-replenished  depth," 

"  —  strange  arts  to  wither  and  deform," 


FENN.  Harley. 


FREDERICKS.       Bobbftt. 


FENN.  Karsl. 


'' —  thy  source  be  lost 
Amidst  the  bitter  brine,"  Hows.  Filmer. 


43 


44 


45 


46 


'  —  broken  cliffs  and  airy  peaks," 


Hows. 


W.  J.  Linlon.     48 


THE  STOKY  OF  THE  FOUNTAIN. 


FOUNTAIN,  that  springest  on  this  grassy  slope, 
Thy  quick  cool  murmur  mingles  pleasant lv, 
AVith  the  cool  sound  of  breezes  in  the  beech, 
Above  me  in  the  noontide. 


Thou  dost  wear 

No  stain  of  thy  dark  birthplace  ;  gushing  up 
From  the  red  mould  and  slimy  roots  of  earth, 
Thou  flashest  in  the  sun.      The  mountain-air, 
In  winter,  is  not  clearer,  nor  the  dew 
That  shines  on  mountain-blossom.     Thus  doth  God 
Bring,  from  the  dark  and  foul,  the  pure  and  bright. 


' 


This  tangled  thicket  on  the  hank  above 
Thy  l>asin,  how  thy  waters  keep  it  ^reen  ! 
For  tliou  dost  feed  the  roots  of  the  wild  vine 
That  trails  all  over  it,  and  to  the  twigs 
Ties  t'a.>t  her  Hush-ix 


Tliere  the  spice-busli  lifts 
Her  leafy  lances ;  the  viburnum  there, 
Paler  of  foliage,  to  the  sun  holds  up 
Her  circlet  of  green  berries. 


In  and  out 

The  chipping  sparrow,  in  her  coat  of  brown, 
Steals  silently,  lest  I  should  mark  her  nest. 


:-  '  ->^':-  '-*-^v'.>-*'" 

\    I"  :•  ' 

' 


Not  sucli  thon  wert  of  yore,  ere  yet  the  axe 
Had  smitten  the  old  woods.     Then  hoary  trunks 
Of  oak,  and  plane,  and  hickory,  o'er  thee  held 
A  mighty  canopy.     When  April  winds 


Grew  soft,  the  maple  burst  into  a  flush 
( )f  M'.-irlrt  flower-. 


The  tulip-tree,  high  up, 
Opened,  in  airs  of  June,  her  multitude 
Of  golden  chalices  to  humming-birds 
And  silken-winged  insects  of  the  sky. 


Frail  wood-plants  clustered  round  thy  edge  in  Spring. 
The  liver-leaf  put  forth  her  sister  blooms 
Of  faintest  blue. 


Here  the  quick-footed  wolf,,. 
Pausing    to    lap    thy    waters, 

crushed  the  flower 
Of    sanguinaria,    from    whose 

brittle  stem 
The  red  drops  fell  like  blood. 


The  deer,  too,  left 

Her  delicate  footprint  in  the  soft  moist  mould, 
And  on  the  fallen  leaves. 


? 

1  ' 


The  slow-paced  bear, 
In  such  a  sultry  summer  noon  as  this, 
Stopped  at  thy  stream,  and  drank,  and  leaped  across 


But  thou  hast  histories  that  stir  the  heart 
With  deeper  feeling ;  while  I  look 

on  thee 
They  rise  before  me. 

I  behold  the  scene 

Hoary  again  with 
forests ; 
I  behold 


The  Indian  wrairior,  whom  a  hand  unseen 

Has  smitten  with  his  death-wound  in  the  woods, 

Creep  slowly  to  thy  well-known  rivulet, 

And  slake  his  death-thirst.     Hark,  that  quick  fierce  cry 


That  rends  the  utter  silence  ;  'tis  the  whoop 
Of  battle,  and  a  throng  of  savage  mm 
"With  naked  amis  and  faces  stained  like  blood, 
Fill  the  green  wilderness.     The  lon.u1  ban-  arms 

23 


'     "  \£fM#    JvO"*'   ^Evi^M '  F 


Are  heaved  aloft,  bows  twang  and  arrows  stream  ; 
Each  makes  a  tree  his  shield,  and  every  tree 
Sends  forth  its  arrow.     Fierce  the  fight  and  short, 
As  is  the  whirlwind.     Soon  the  conquerors 

?4 


. 

;  ..  •-     -     ;cr ',..:*<; 


r™/?ffeV 


P| 


And  conquered  vanish,  and  the  dead  remain 
Mangled  by  tomahawks.     The  itiiu'lity  woods 
Are  still  a^ain,  the  frighted  bird  cnmcs  hark 
And  plumes  her  wings  ;  but  thy  sweet  waters  run 
Crimson  with  blood. 


Then,  as  the  sun  goes  down, 
Amid  the  deepening  twilight  I  descry 
Figures  of  men  that  crouch  and  creep  unheard, 
And  bear  away  the  dead.     The  next  day's  shower 
Shall  wash  the  tokens  of  the  fight  away. 


I  look  again — a  hunter's 


is  built, 
With  poles  and  boughs,  beside  \}\\ 

crystal  well, 
While  the  meek  Autumn  stains  tin-  woods 

with  gold, 
And  sheds  his  golden  sunshine. 


To  the  door 

The  red-man  slowly  drags  the  enormous  bear 
Slain  in  the  chestnut-thicket,  or  flings  down 
The  deer  from  his  strong  shoulders.     Shaggy  fells 
Of  wolf  and  cougar  hang  upon  the  walls, 
28 


And  loin!  the  black-eyed  Indian  maidens  laugh, 
That  gatlu-r,  from  the  rustling  heaps  of  leaves, 
The  hickory's  white  nuts,  and  the  dark  fruit 
That  falls  from  the  gray  butternut's  long  boughs. 


4' 


So  centuries  passed  by,  and  still  the  woods 
Blossomed  in  spring,  and  reddened  when  the  year 
Grew  chill,  and  glistened  in  the  frozen  rains 
Of  winter,  till  the  white  man  swung  the  axe 


Beside  thee — signal  of  a  mightv 

Then  all  around  was  heard  the  crash  of  trees, 

Trembling  awhile  and  rushing  to  the  ground, 


The  low  of  ox,  and  shouts  of  men  who  fired 

The  brushwood,  or  who  tore  the  earth  with  ploughs. 


I 


'  i 

1 


r-          .  / 


I^*&is     ^*?^*te^i  Efe9K  "-iJJ     5M*     iv/,  \\  •-' 

'  ^  /  ^  Q^  \  \    <  ">  • 

.  1 1 

m\$L*tf&\F    --J   fiP*^aXv\\ 

Wv?  :'3m/'-' 


The  jjjniin  sprsin«r  thick  and  tall,  and  hid  in  green 
The  blackened  hill-side  ; 


;_ij^"»   \-;\\'.-    '  -       -\»^-  ,f 
-.w^V^' 


Kanks  of  spiky  maize 

it/ 

Rose  like  a  host  embattled  ; 


t. 


The  buckwheat 
iitciicil  broad  acres, 


Sweetening  with  its  flowers 
The  August  wind.     White  cottages  were  seen 
With  rose-trees  at  the  windows  ;  hums  from  which 


Caine  loud  and  shrill  the  crowing  of  the  cock  ; 


Pastures  where  rolled  arid  neighed  the  lordly  horse, 
And  white  flocks  browsed  and  bleated.     A  rich  turf 


; 

^.fc"    V,        ",  c    .       v 

•'• 

•: 


\- 


Of  grasses  brought  from  far  o'ercrept  thy  hank, 
Spotted  with  the  white  clover. 


Blue-eyed  girls 
Brought  pails,  and  dipped  them  in  thy  crystal  pool ; 

38 


''t  *•_._'(  ••••     -I_   =^=»  •  ••=-•»     -, 


And  eliildrci),  niddy-clieeked  and  flaxen-haired, 
(lathered  the  glistening  cowslip  from  thy  edirc. 


3Q 


Since  then,  what  steps  have  trod  thy  border !     Here 
On  thy  green  bank,  the  woodman  of  the  swamp 
Has  laid  his  axe,  the  reaper  of  the  hill 
His  sickle,  as  they  stooped  to  taste  thy  stream. 


The  sportsman,  tired  with  wniidcrin^  in  the  still 
September  noon,  has  bathed  his  heated  brow 
In  thy  cool  current. 


Shouting  boys,  let  loose 
For  a  wild  holiday,  have  quaintly  shaped 
Into  a  cup  the  folded  linden-leaf, 
And  dipped  thy  sliding  crystal. 


From  the  wars 

,  the  plumed  soldier  hy  thy  side 
ll.i-  sat,  and  mused  ho\v  pleasant   'twere  to  dwell 
In  such  a  spot,  and  he  as  free  as  thoii, 
And  move  tor  no  man's  hiddinir  more.       At  6V6, 


When  thou  wert  crimson  with  the  crimson  sky, 
Lovers  have  gazed  upon  thee,  and  have  thought 
Their  mingled  lives  should  flow  as  peacefully 


. 

• 


And  brightly  as  thy  waters.      Hero  the  saire, 
(iazin.i;  into  thy  self-replenished  depth, 
lias  seen  eternal  order  circumscribe 
And  bind  the  motions  of  eternal  change, 
And  from  the  ^ushin^  <>f  thy  simple  fount 


Has  n-asoned  to  the  mighty  universe. 


Is  there  no  other 

for  thee,  that  lurks 
Among  the  future  ;iir<>>  '. 

Will  not  man 
Seek  out  strange  arts  to  wither 

and  deform 
The  pleasant  landscape  which 

thou  makest  ^reen? 
Or  shall  the  veins  that  feed 

thy  constant  stream 
Be  choked  in  middle  earth, 

and  flow  no  more 
For  ever,  that  the  water-plants 

along 
Thy  channel  perish,  and  the 

hird  in  vain 
Aliirht  to 
drink  ( 


46 


Haply  shall  those  green  hills 
Sink,  with  the  lapse  of  years,  into  the  i^nlt' 
Of  ocean-waters,  and  thy  source  he  lost 
Amidst  the  bitter  l.nur  (     Or  shall  they  rise, 


Upheaved  in  broken  cliffs  and  airy  peaks, 
Haunts  of  the  eagle  and  the  snake,  and  thoti 
Gush  midway  from  the  bare  and  barren  steep  ? 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
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Al    f  ountaitu— 
1881 


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